Nestle Purina Petcare Company was hit with a class action lawsuit alleging that its Beneful dog food includes toxic substances which are capable of killing dogs.

According to the Beneful class action lawsuit filed in a California federal court by plaintiff Frank Lucido on Feb. 5, Beneful is responsible for making thousands of dogs either seriously ill or causing them to die, which happened to one of his own dogs.

Lucido owned three dogs — a German Shepherd, an English Bulldog and a Labrador. He bought a bag of Beneful for the first time in late December 2014 or early January 2015 and each dog began eating Beneful exclusively, the Beneful class action lawsuit explains.

On Jan. 15, the German Shepherd began to lose a large amount of hair and began giving off a unusual odor, which concerned Lucido and his wife, who first started to notice the symptoms. Two days later the German Shepherd became “violently ill.”

After being examined by a veterinarian, it was determined that the German Shepherd was suffering from internal bleeding in the dog’s stomach and the liver was also malfunctioning, which the veterinarian said was “consistent with poisoning.”

On Jan. 23, Lucido’s wife found the English Bulldog dead in their yard. “Post-mortem veterinary examination revealed signs of internal bleeding in the dog’s stomach and lesions on his liver, much like [the German Shepherd],” the class action lawsuit claims.

CourthouseNews.com states: “He blames the problems on the presence of propylene glycol, an automotive antifreeze component, and grains with fungus that produce mycotoxins.”

The lawsuit cites our pet food testing results, “The class action lawsuit cites the Association for Truth In Pet Food, which tested “Beneful Original and found that it contained dangerous levels of mycotoxins.” The consumer funded Pet Food Test found Beneful Original to contain 10 different mycotoxins which resulted in a Risk Equivalent Quality of 32 – above high risk.

This product sickens me. I wish people would read the label. Nine of the first 10 ingredients are high carbohydrate grains, starches and flours, low-bioavailable proteins, “by-products,” industrial chemicals, and sugars. The switch to propylene glycol (toxic to red blood cells) was a fairly recent one, and highlights that pet food manufacturers change formulations without consumers (who support them) being aware. Yet it is the “go to” food I think because of incredibly successful (and deceptive) advertising and packaging. Whenever we meet people walking dogs who are so obviously overweight and in poor overall health, almost invariably, it seems, the guardian will tell us they feed Beneful.

People in this country are so used to trusting the government and “science” to make sure that what is sold as food is safe that they don’t read the ingredient lists of “foods” that THEY are eating much less their pet’s food ingredients. Yet, the food induced diseases that are attacking the bodies of humans are just increasing. No one seems to make the connection between highly processed food with low quality ingredients and the fact that obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, cancer and a myriad of other diseases keep increasing in our population.

I admit I used to be the same way. It was not until several years ago when a puppy refused to eat any pet food put before her that I started reading the ingredient list. I was horrified by what I saw. Corn as the first ingredient? What followed was not much better. Much of it I could not even identify. This was pet food that you pay extra for because it was supposed to be so “scientific!” After researching the other ingredients on the list the pet food was discarded and we went to real fresh food feeding.

Firstly, THANK you so much for helping to get this lawsuit out to a wider audience. The group “Is BENEFUL by Purina KILLING or SICKENING Dogs? Post YOUR Story!” was started by me in 2013 after I heard reports of dogs dying from Beneful.

Two years later, we have 4,000 members whose dogs have sickened or, even worse, DIED, from this terrible “food”. And not just dogs .. we now have a good
contingent of cat owners whose cats have died from Purina food.. hemorrhage,
seizures, rapid onset of liver disease, kidney failure.

Here is a VERY recent case, posted just a few days ago. Watch it and be horrified!

These two labs got sick- the owners are two of the lucky ones. Cassandra Angelique and Mike Garnett-Zero watched as both dogs started seizing within an hour of receving a SINGLE Beneful Healthy Smile treat. The owners could hardly believe it so when the dogs recovered, they did it again.. same result. They are now submitting reports to both the FDA and the US Department of Agriculture.

Like Purina’s killer toxic jerky treats (18% Propylene Glycol), BENEFUL is 1% Propylene Glycol; the FDA has been warning about contaminated PG from China since 2011, but there are NO tests to check for the suspected toxins, and only maybe 1% of imported raw ANYTHING ever gets tested.. a drum of INDUSTRIAL GRADE PG was found by the FDA in one of the Chinese jerky treat plants but the FDA were, unsurprisingly, not allowed to remove it or test it.

On that basis, ANY oils have the potential to be industrial grade and contaminated.. including Sorbitol (used in some Beneful lines) and Glycerin (used extensively in both cat and dog food and treats). AVOID AT THE RISK OF POISONING YOUR PETS!

Other issues are potentially lethal mycotoxins from molds – Corn, Soy, Wheat can all be easily contaminated with excess moisture during harvest, storage, and even after the food is packed.

Beneful, Dog Chow, Friskies, Cat Chow, Meow Mix, should NEVER be fed to your pets.. it is like playing Russiam Roullette with your pet’s life!

We have recovered numerous dogs from the brink of death in some cases using an established protocol of easily available ingredients. Many other animals who have been sick for years, have regained their puppyhood. Details in the group – Liquid Milk Thistle Extract, Home-made Chicken Broth, Coconut Oil and Life Extension Super Biocurcumin.. followed by a progression to a grain and potato free canned and/or dry, and/or raw or home-made diet. I have prepared extensive files on grain and potato free canned and dry foods for dogs and cats for all budgets for the group.

Oh, and before people pat themselves on the back for not feeding Beneful we hold the same disdain for not just ALL Purina foods, but Hill’s Ol’ Roy, IAMS, Royal Canin, Ehkanuba, including those terrible “Prescription” foods.. also Nutro, Kibbles n Bits, Kit n Kaboodle.. I assure you this would be a VERY long list if I mentioned them all!

We already called the attorneys and they told us that ANYONE in thye US who has had ANY issue with Nestle-Purina’s Beneful causing illness or death is highly encouraged to phone the team handling the Class Action Lawsuit at: 877-667-4265. They will conduct a phone interview no matter where you are. So CALL – participation will not cost you a dime!

Please join us for further information! As you can imagine, we are getting VERY busy with the new arrivals!

Thank you! (I wonder how these people get off on thinking this crappy food of various crap is good for carnivores? It’s a bunch of stuff that is not raw meat or meat. 28″ protein – hardly. What a bunch of money grubbing people.)

Just had my 1year old Jack Russell to vet yesterday for intestinal issues liver numbers were up vomiting and just problems with her. Told me to take her off Beneful put her on Petway food. This really scares me she has follow up in a month. Please let me know any updates.

Scary for sure. I don’t believe he will be successful in this lawsuit. There simply isn’t anything illegal with the inclusion of those products in their food. Clearly, it is AAFCO approved for a Complete and Balanced Diet.

The only case is one which defines ingredients used in the food as being adulterated, or not approved for use in pet food. I think we are all aware how difficult that is- Susan knows this first hand after contacting manufacturers and regulatory bodies about this exact thing.

What I would say is to shop at an independent retailer who will help you choose a food appropriate for you and your pet.

God, this is so painful. I am so sorry. I think we are doing a smart thing by keeping this front and center on Facebook. What about YouTube? An emotional plea from the owners would go a long way.
I see people fill their carts at Walmart and I so want to have a written explanation to hand to them informing them that “you probably don’t know this…if you’d just take a few seconds to read this we can almost assure you your pet will be so much healthier if you understood how much profit these companies are making at the expense of your pet’s health…” Blah-blah. Just a thought!

This is the saddest, most heart breaking story and I am so sorry. The experience of this family and their beloved canine family members makes it crystal clear how truly toxic and poisonous these foods are.

I wish their suit could include whatever government agencies make it legal to manufacture foods using these deadly ingredients.

This happened so recently – thousands of dogs are surely dead or dying right this minute as their unsuspecting caretakers continue to feed Beneful.

Every time I’m in Costco I see people with huge bags of Beneful and the recalled Pedigree dog food in their carts.

Perhaps we ALL should print copies of this post to hand out in stores like Costco and Walmart when we see people buying these foods.

So glad a suit has finally been filed and hopefully others will be able to do the same when their pets are poisoned.

Propylene Glycol IS a component of antifreeze but it is NOT a poison! It is used in hospitals and in some asthma inhalers. Should it be in dog food? ABSOLUTELY NOT!! For what reason?! Now the mycotoxins can very much cause this reaction and the food should be taken off the market immediately and the company should be held accountable.

The success of the lawsuit will have to depend upon the testing of the PF (specific batch) and what they found in it not just in terms of (questionable) ingredients, but actual toxins, and how those would make a pet sick.

Otherwise, they would have to make a case against an accidental poisoning scenario (or the consumption of other PF products or teats in the household) to be able to exclusively accuse Beneful as the lethal source.

Let’s hope this case sets a successful precedent as a recourse for other Pet Owner victims!

And another good reminder that when buying any PF product always keep the original bag and a small sample of original contents.

I adopted yogi 8 years ago. I put him on beneful Immediately because of cost, convenience and good reviews. He had violent seizures for years until last year when his doc finally asked me to switch his food. He has not experienced any seizure since. I hate myself for not figuring this out sooner and wish these companies would learn how not to harm our pets before putting these foods on the shelves of our favorite markets.

My GSD who will be 9 in May was a 3 year old when I adopted her; the previous owners had been feeding Benefu. As I’d been feeding decent food to my previous GSDs, I barely recognized Beneful for what it was supposed to be, looked like colored Cheerios to me. You can believe that a transition to a much better food started the next day, namely Acana made by Champion Pet Foods in Canada, where I happen to live. Beneful and comparable foods should be taken off the market. It is so discouraging that many people don’t think about reading labels and educating themselves about pet foods.

I doubt this dog owner will be successful.
Propylene glycol is not a toxin, he’s confusing it with Ethylene glycol, which is.
I guess he doesn’t know that the parent company of Beneful has very deep pockets.

He also probably doesn’t know that the Purina company has a kennel full of dogs and cats that are fed their products daily. If those animal aren’t dying, there’s nothing that’s making his dogs die.

He’d also have to prove that the dogs were in his company 100% of the time, to prove that nothing toxic was introduced to them. (Angry neighbors tossing something toxic into their yard for instance) I seriously doubt he can prove it.

It is true that the food could have been contaminated after the food left the company warehouse, but that’s not going to give him the win either. He’d have to track everywhere each bag of food had been. Only the Purina company has that info, they aren’t going to give it to him. A judge could require it tho. I doubt the manufacturing company could be held responsible for something that happens to the food once it’s out of their hands.

Structure and properties[edit]
Propylene glycol is a clear, colorless and hygroscopic liquid. Propylene glycol contains an asymmetrical carbon atom, so it exists in two enantiomers. The commercial product is a racemic mixture. Pure optical isomers can be obtained by hydration of optically pure propylene oxide.[2]

The freezing point of water is depressed when mixed with propylene glycol owing to the effects of dissolution of a solute in a solvent (freezing-point depression); in general, glycols are non-corrosive, have very low volatility and very low toxicity (however, the closely related ethylene glycol is moderately toxic to humans and many animals).

Production[edit]
Industrially, propylene glycol is produced from propylene oxide[3] (for food-grade use), and global capacity in 1990 was 900,000 tonnes per year.[4] Different manufacturers use either non-catalytic high-temperature process at 200 °C (392 °F) to 220 °C (428 °F), or a catalytic method, which proceeds at 150 °C (302 °F) to 180 °C (356 °F) in the presence of ion exchange resin or a small amount of sulfuric acid or alkali.

Final products contain 20% propylene glycol, 1.5% of dipropylene glycol and small amounts of other polypropylene glycols.[5] Further purification produces finished industrial grade or USP/JP/EP/BP grade propylene glycol that is typically 99.5% or greater. Propylene glycol can also be converted from glycerol, a biodiesel byproduct. This starting material is usually reserved for industrial use because of the noticeable odor and taste that accompanies the final product.

(S)-Propanediol may be synthesized from D-mannitol, through the following scheme:[6]

ANIMAL FEED except for USE IN CAT FOOD….
PALATABLE ANIMAL FEED AND EFFICIENT LIVESTOCK MANAGEMENT
Propylene glycol USP/EP (pharmaceutical grade) is the appropriate grade for this application due to its handling practices.

Propylene glycol USP/EP (pharmaceutical grade), with its inherent property of attracting water, helps keep animal feed moist, fresh and chewy – and thus easier for dogs and livestock to digest. This is of particular economic significance within the livestock industry.

In outdoor livestock farming, the addition of propylene glycol to the feed helps reduce the freezing point of the moisture present within the food, extending the usage of feed even at sub-zero temperatures. For cattle and poultry, (mono) propylene glycol USP/EP (pharmaceutical grade) in the feed is also a readily-available source of energy.

Propylene glycol in animal feed

Applications of propylene glycol USP/EP (pharmaceutical grade) as feed additive (E 490) include its use as a(n):

humectant to provide moisture and taste: ” A humectant is a substance with the ability to attract and hold water in a formulation ”
solvent, stabiliser and preservative to keep the feed suitable for longer use
additive for increased energy provision.
* not approved for use in cat food

Which grade (pharmaeutical or industrial) do you think China is exporting?

Why is it necessary to make artificially contrived animal feed (intended for pets) moist, fresh and chewy – and thus easier for dogs and livestock to digest instead of feeding natural moist, fresh and chewy food. Answer, this is of particular economic significance within the livestock industry. Oh and I guess in the PFI too.

Where in a natural environment would dogs be ingesting propylene glycol.

They have now decided (after DECADES of use) that carmel coloring (such as in Coke for example) is a high risk carcinogene so when will they get around to examining other formerly GRAS chemicals too.

The FDA has categorized propylene glycol as “Generally Recognized as Safe.” That doesn’t help either.

pamela
Feb 25, 2015

Cat: This is the yahoo dictionary listing for prop. glycol- it is a toxin, heres what it says:
propylene glycol
.noun
1.A colorless viscous hygroscopic liquid that is a vicinal diol, C3H8O2, used in antifreeze solutions, in hydraulic fluids, and as a solvent.

Well here’s an interesting twist in the lawsuit, the details of which are now being explained by many media outlets which are picking up the story (including NBC, CBS & CNN). The lawsuit has accounted for the absence of environmental contamination. Because Frank’s home was under rennovation all 3 dogs were in different and separate households. In fact the only thing in common was eating the same PF and the dogs coming down with the same symptoms.

Just because PG is GRAS for some applications in human food doesn’t mean that it’s not being imported from China. Heaven only knows the quality or dilution of it. Hasn’t China been known to make a few “mistakes” in the past.

My partner and I had two wonderful chocolate labs who both developed large tumors and had to be put down within four months of each other in 2012. The only change we had made in their lives between the checkup when they were healthy and the one that revealed the illness was that we had switched their food to Beneful, based frankly on their reputation and the whole “I’ve heard of Purina my whole life and trust them!”. When the first dog got sick, we thought it tragic, but when the second was diagnosed with the exact same thing two months later, we thought this was more than coincidence. We went online and even then, the internet was full of stories linking Beneful and dog deaths. Rather than being a good citizen and pulling the product until it could be proven safe, Purina was balking saying “not enough envidence, etc.” We will never buy another Purina product and are far more careful about reading labels for our new dog. But I hope Purina loses in a MAJOR way and that other folks are spared the heartache we experienced.

[…] scary. It also goes along with a thread I posted earlier about production problems with Purina. Class Action Lawsuit filed against Beneful Dog Food | Truth about Pet Food __________________ All dogs deserve a good home Subscribe to this newsletter first: […]

Hi
Does anyone know how to get on the lawsuit. My white boxer was really ill last year she survived after 8,000 dollars and two nights at one of the top animal hospitals in NJ. Thank god I work for them also, but it sounds like it might be related from the food also.
Thanks
Rebecca King

PLEASE pick up the phone and do it now! The BENEFUL lawsuit attorneys told us that ANYONE in the US who has had ANY issue with Nestle-Purina’s Beneful causing illness or death in their pets is highly encouraged to phone the team handling the Class Action Lawsuit at: 877-667-4265 or 407-452-6990 They will conduct a phone interview no matter where you are. So CALL – participation will not cost you a dime! They are asking that people save any food they still have for testing, with packaging if possible, and any vet information/records.

Calling Morgan and Morgan at 877-667-4265 is a waste of time. I called and got transferred 4 times and had to keep repeating my question, who I was, why I was calling, how to spell Beneful, etc..

They are more interested in getting your name and email for marketing purposes than they are about helping with your inquiry. What a waste of time. In the end, after giving them all that information and wasting 15 minutes of my time, I was finally told they are no longer taking inquiries on that case.

OMG, NOW I KNOW WHY MY DOG LOST ALL HER HAIR AND HAS BEEN VOMITING. THIS IS WHAT I’VE BEEN FEEDING MY DOG FOR THE PAST FEW MONTHS. I AM SO LIVID AND UPSET RIGHT NOW. IF MY DOG DIES I’M GOING AFTER SOMEONE!!!!!!

I was feeding an abandoned cat & switche to Blue Buffalo “Wilderness” – he lost all her hair!!!!!! I threw out the rest of the bag figuring it was the food. Switched to something else & his hair grew back. Weird. Wow!!! Watch these foods!!!!!!!! I’ve noticed a lot of dogs around dropping like flies at age 10 or 11. I always ask what they fed & they say cheap brands. Soooo sad. It’s hard to reach people about this food. They don’t understand & are unwilling to “get it”.

I can’t believe that anyone who reads these articles buys anything Purina!
After a year of reading here, I won’t buy anything that is not safe for ME to eat…which means I make the dogs’ food. Ground meat, sweet potatoes, kale, turmeric, coconut oil and vitamins. It’s not hard…

Cook homemade, I do and my 90 pound boxer is doing great. I cook for him once a week and keep it in the fridge. I make a meatloaf with quality ground beef, sweet potatoes, zuchini, carrots, oats, brown rice, all mixes with eggs, bake it for 45 min at 350. I also dry out the eggshells amd process them, that is pure calcium. I don’t want to give my dog any chemicals, want him to live a long healthy life.

These lawsuits are hard to win. But if considered enough of a nuisance the company will to settle for consumers’ out of pocket expenses. Not that there’s any price on grief. The value of this effort is of course in the publicity and to serve as a warning to other consumers. In drawing out other people who have suspicions but never dreamt a PF could actually harm a pet! It is incredible how people will put up with the long term illnesses of their pets, thinking it’s temporary. But no, for a healthy pet, when changing a diet, hair loss, vomiting, loose stools are SERIOUS. People have to stop and CHANGE the BRAND for those symptoms to disappear.

But even more notable is the effect of compounding multiple mycotoxins! As if one wouldn’t be enough. So for one thing, mycotoxins (plural) are being discussed as a hazard (getting into web search topics). Which is good. Helping to suggest why some dogs can be more affected than others.

Let’s credit the Consumer Funded Pet Food Testing effort for identifying it in Beneful, and Susan for calling out the problem of multiple mycotoxins in previous articles. Especially when it’s in a diet that’s consumed on a daily basis. As usual she is well ahead of conventional thinking when it comes to PF risks!!

The lawsuit is against Purina for the manufacturing and sale of one of their formulas obviously called Beneful. Purina is “proud” to say that it owns and controls all of its own manufacturing sites (which would include the primary responsibility for suppliers, ingredients and assembly) of all its products. It is very doubtful that Pruina would separate by quality grading which ingredients (such as corn) go into one formula versus another. Since mycotoxins are at issue, mycotoxins are a part of any grain based formulas period.

If a person insisted on using a Purina product, best bet would be to make sure at the very least it’s grain FREE. But the use of animal fat, meat and bone meal, propelyne glycol (just to name a few examples) in any Purina product isn’t much better. Good heavens at Purina’s price point there are all kinds of other choices out there. Why reward such a company until it can prove its own defense.

Did you see on last week’s Westminister 2015 dog show – Purina tooting their Purina stuff. What garbage is in that? Some weird stuff? I’d rather feed my animals real food. A long life of weird food, stuff only leads to problems, problems, problems & early death. I knew an old English sheep dog, almost 20! The owner only fed it table scaps for his whole life! He was old – but looked pretty darn good! And that is old!!! Also knew of a dachshound – only ate raw – 21 yrs old!

A comment was made during Westminster that few champions are made without the use of ProPlan in the diet. Now granted a Purina sponsored 139 yr. old event is going to be self-serving! But I don’t think Purina is stupid either. If Show people were losing pricey dogs and linked those unexplained illnesses to diet, there would be an outcry! Make no mistake about it. So I don’t know. It does make you wonder. With my apologies I may have to take back part of my response to Derrick Eshelman. Maybe Purina DOES separate quality graded ingredients per formula and price point. Maybe the worst of the worst stuff goes into Beneful (leftovers, discards, remnants) and the first quality stuff (all relative to PF of course) goes into ProPlan.

ProPlan has a high level of carbohydrates (rice, corn, oatmeal), but at 28% protein Lamb is the leading ingredient, with the addition of egg product and fish meal. There is a certain amount of unique benefit to corn when properly used. By contrast Beneful has 23% protein but from chicken BY-PRODUCT meal, followed by corn and wheat and rice and soy flours (all of which sound like junk filler). To make it tasty they ADD sugar (ever meet a dog that would turn down sugar?) plus salt, garlic oil, and jack up the appearance with artificial colors and the essence of dehydrated veggies.

You know it’s all a game of perception. Regular pet owners want something that “looks” like it must be good. Fanciers are more likely to read labels and make the connection between what the food is actually doing for their dog and success. Of course nobody is impartially tracking the long term effects of Purina on any of these dogs. And sadly for some dogs there are no long term effects period.

Is anyone paying attention to the emotion in some of these comments? Can you imagine going through what these victims have. So you’ve got to be kidding, right. To suggest the illnesses and deaths of dogs eating Beneful is an Urban Myth. The article is dated, but let’s pull apart the reasoning for thinking like that anyway.

First. How often have you eaten only a box of Breakfast Cereal over the course of a week or a month and gone to the Emergency Room with severe symptoms? Except they can’t figure out why you’re so sick? Not very often huh. That’s because companies don’t fool around with human food. When they do and PEOPLE die, companies are liable. It’s called bad publicity. A Jury has little sympathy. The problem with PF is that most people can’t and won’t believe PF is bad. They just don’t get it. But the real problem is that pets do not have the same business value and legal rights. So nobody cares.

Second. Are you vigilant with your pet? Most people are especially the kind of owners who report a problem, because they do care, and they’re looking for an explanation. What would be the point otherwise if the dog got really did get into a household chemical or some other kind of explainable problem. A Vet knows what toxic poisoning is when present. Vets have enough experience dealing with routine symptoms. So it really would be a waste of someone’s time right? Like most owners, I know EXACTLY what my dogs are doing, where they are and what they eat. One is very old, the other is very young. I don’t keep bad stuff on the property. They don’t rummage around or have public access. So when a commercial kibble negatively affects BOTH my dogs especially in the same way at the same time, like duhh, the food is the reason and it’s trashed! Thank you but I don’t need to spend money at the Vet or clean up messy stools to figure all that out. And $60 down the drain is cheaper than a long term risk. If a dog continuously vomits with diarrhea, that’s serious. Yes really. If they lose hair, scratch, lick incessantly, with horrible yeast like ears, hot spots, then it’s the diet. Yes, really! You might think your dog is the exception (with special allergies) and don’t want to spend money to upgrade the diet. But that’s what it is. Why? Your dog has become overly sensitized to prolonged exposure to ingredients (that for whatever reasons) his/her body just can’t handle. And now it’s reacting to the environment on top of that. If a dog has bloody stools then go to the Vet, pronto. But first STOP the food! Not just the recipe, or the bag, but the entire BRAND!! You can test this out by feeding real cooked chicken or boiled beef and rice for a week and watch the dog improve.

Third. Why would all these people even be complaining? They bought a product they liked. It’s happy advertising. It’s cheap. And it’s made by holier-than-thou Purina. So if they were so dang satisfied, then why complain at all? Just to twist public opinion for the sake of competitors? Ahh that would be a pretty diffuse scattering. Or could it be that people are finally connecting the dots? Maybe these experiences now have some meaning. Unfortunately it’s also a very sad lesson to learn the hard way. I’d rather just be forewarned through social media and TAPF, wouldn’t you.

The bigger question really is this. Ask how many owners have these same complaints who HOME COOK or feed raw? Let’s flush out those folks first just to compare. And once that’s done and settled then we can return to your theory of Urban Myths. Or how Beneful is being unfairly maligned. Fair enough.

First. Pet food is formulated as if it is the only food a dog will eat. Both the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO), and National Research Council (NRC) publish nutrient profiles for dogs and cats, for various life stages. If the PACKAGE states: “is formulated to meet the nutritional level established by AAFCO Dog food nutrient profile for_ _ _ _”, it meets the guidelines. I highlight “package” because companies can state whatever they want on their websites…but not on the package.

Second..”If they lose hair, scratch, lick incessantly, with horrible yeast like ears, hot spots, then it’s the diet.” YES, it is most likely the diet! BUT, it is also most likely an ALLERGIC RESPONSE…not a failure of the food. You may not even need to “upgrade” the diet, but switch protein sources. $$$ doesn’t automatically = quality.

Third….All these people are complaining because this is a complaint area. If you really look at a LOT of the complaints….the symptoms are so varied…I don’t even understand how they can all be attributed to the food. I have seen fleas, parvo, blood-borne/tick-borne diseases blamed on it. The vomiting, diarhhea, kidney/liver problems have hundreds of causes-not just food. Some dogs “ate one serving”, while others “have been eating it all their life”, before becoming ill.
Not to mention one of the highest selling brands, by default would incur the highest percentage of “complaints”. The presence alone of complaints does not create proof.
I feel sorry…VERY sorry for people who are feeling so frustrated and angry because they blame the food…yet there is no proof, and until there is proof the food is harmful…..nothing would be done.

MY “fourth….”Nutrient deficiencies have also been seen in dogs and cats fed “natural,” “organic,” or “vegetarian” diets produced by owners with good intentions. Many published recipes have been only crudely balanced by computer, if at all, using nutrient averages. In addition, most homemade diets do not undergo the scrutiny and rigorous testing applied to commercial complete and balanced diets. If pet owners wish to feed their pets homemade diets, the diets should be prepared and cooked using recipes formulated by a veterinary nutritionist.”~merckmanuals
I would place a bet that, compared to several years ago….complaints of illnesses while on these diets have gone up too, as the number of people feeding them has gone up.

I disagree with you in many ways – foremost, feed grade pet foods – which this pet food is – is a failure to the pet consuming the food and the consumer who purchased the food. Beautiful images of ‘food’ on the label – when ‘feed’ quality ingredients are inside the bag or can – is a lie. It is misleading to the consumer and it is a violation of AAFCO regulations. States and FDA do not enforce this regulation (along with many others).
You don’t provide proof of your assumption that nutrient deficiencies are on the rise linked to home prepared diets. Yet you doubt the pet owners here. These pet owners – along with many others whose pets were sick on a feed grade AAFCO Complete and Balanced commercial pet food – have all the proof they need…their pet is no longer sick.
And this is not a complaint area – this website is an educational area – and the owner of this site (me) actively advocates for pet food safety.

You have “animal feed” vs “human food”…OR, “feed” vs “food”…to distinguish between human and animal.
You then have “feed grade” vs “pet food grade”…to distinguish between livestock and companion animals.
Even the “high quality” pet foods have pictures of whole foods on them….meat and veggies.
You are correct…I do not provide proof of my assumption. It is common sense. Is every single home-prepared diet adhering strictly to the nutritional requirements?
Susan….I do not doubt the pet owners who are suffering tremendously from their losses. It is tragic that they believe something they may have done, harmed their pet! They may have all the proof they feel they need…but it is not enough proof to have anything done. That has always been my stance.
What I DO doubt…is encouraging them to follow a dead end, without substantiating evidence.
If there was ONE CASE definitely proving the food was defective…there you go. Even I would jump on that bandwagon. I do not see how this current suit can be successful, if based on internet stories and false information.
I apologize for the “complaint area” remark. However, there will be more people commenting here who believe the food is a problem that those tens of millions of customers who seemingly have no problem with it. Same as with any food…human OR animal.

Susan Thixton
Feb 23, 2015
Author

Feed grade is the same as pet food grade.

Any pet food images on labels should adequately describe the contents – if they display ‘food’ on the label – it should be made from food (not feed).

I disagree – it is not common sense that pets fed home prepared diets are lacking in nutritional requirements. I have fed my own pets (2 dogs, 4 cats) a home prepared diet for about 5 years. I feed them in the same fashion I feed myself – a variety of foods that provide a variety of nutrition to balance the diet. My oldest pet – a cat who will be 15 this year – is extremely healthy – my vet even stating he has never seen better kidney function in a cat this age. All of my animals eat food (not feed) and receive no supplements. All of the nutrients are obtained from food (not supplements).

Nina
Feb 23, 2015

“In recent years, pet food companies have mandated to renderers that PBM[poultry by-product meal] be manufactured without “low quality” by-product fractions such as feathers, heads, feet, and on-farm mortality. High quality pet food-grade rendered product would thus be composed of soft offal, trim, and fresh product from deboning operations.
This has resulted in the current feed-grade PBM being of lower protein content and amino acid digestibility and varying in nutrient composition, because the high quality offal components have been diverted to pet food meals.” That is one example.
Apparently, in the pet food business, there IS a difference. I think the confusion is one is at the agricultural level and the other is at the manufacturing level.
As for the packaging…if there’s chicken in it…why can’t a pic of a chicken, or pea, or lamb, or tomato be on the package? Should there be a regulation that ALL pet food be sold in plain brown bags?
Do you really think every home-cooked diet is prepared like yours? Do your pets eat exactly what you eat each meal? Did you research/get advice on what to feed; how to balance their diet? We know dogs cannot eat everything humans can. Does everyone? We know pets have different nutritional requirements than humans. Does everyone?

Susan Thixton
Feb 23, 2015
Author

I’m not going to argue with you Nina. You are entitled to your opinion – as am I. It’s ok if we disagree. I just wanted readers of this post to not be misled by your comments. To me – they are incorrect. Everyone can make their own decisions with both sides of the story.

And as far as preparing food – I successfully fed two children from birth to adulthood – without nutrient deficiencies. And I feed myself daily – without suffering any nutrient deficiencies. If I can provide nutrition for humans, I can certainly provide nutrition for my pets. It’s not rocket science – it’s food.

Jeanette Owen
Feb 23, 2015

Yea, dogs & cats were made by God to eat raw meat. It’s the enzymes in “that” – that is what they need. That’s all they need. (not slop from a factory farm.)

Jeanette Owen
Feb 23, 2015

You are amazing! Thanks for feeding your pets so Well!!!! I believe it!!! An Old English sheepdog by me was 19 yrs old! Only ate table scraps!!!! A dashound = ate raw mixture of stuff – 21 yrs young!!

Jeanette Owen
Feb 23, 2015

Per vet here in Az who straightens out sick, diabetic etc cats & dogs – puts them on raw. She improvement in 2 weeks & cured by 2 months. He said that what they need, are meant for. The “raw” meat is the enzymes they were designed for. Maybe add calcium to it. I’ve seen 17 yr old cat recover from kidney failure & go on the live 2 more years. That’s what they NEED.!

Many people don’t have time to read all the comments posted about an article or even one lengthy one like this. But if they do, then my goal is to balance the discussion:

• AAFCO says certain PF (with its seal) is formulated to be the complete and only meal necessary. Actually the serving is formulated NOT to be deficient in specific (crucial) nutrients by ADDING vitamins and minerals to meet the regulation. People eating a vitamin, mineral enriched “full sized meal” protein bar daily for a year or five wouldn’t die but they wouldn’t thrive either. Eating the same ingredients in the same proportion repeatedly could also trigger an autoimmune response. Pets and people are designed to eat broad range of fresh, in the natural state, food because of greatest bioavailability and complimentary interaction. Protein intended for people isn’t compromised. Protein intended for PF is highly compromised because of FDA Compliance Policies.

• While some food reactions are genetic (lactose intolerance, peanut, gluten sensitivities) other conditions are aggravated by repeated exposure to incompatible ingredients in a diet. Examples include unnatural ingredients like flavors and colors. For a person a serving or two of wheat bread might be tolerated, but for others, a daily diet of it could inflame the gut.

• Grains in PF are not a natural food for dogs and contain mycotoxins and aflatoxins from poor storage & handling, ESPECIALLY corn. Corn is the main ingredient in Beneful. What makes a dog sick from eating corn is exposure to the mold, which can be highly toxic, and to some dogs much more so than others! Thus, while not all dogs are getting sick, certainly enough are. In this case the ratio of more sales to more complaints isn’t the argument. If Beneful had less sales, yet was made with a higher ratio of corn than other products, and enough dogs sensitive to mold ingested it, then those complaints would still exist. Isn’t one death enough. Certainly would be if a child died from a toxin in baby food!

• To search the web complaints are scattered amongst a lot of sources. There is no one “complaint center.” They’ve been picked up by media throughout the country. At the time, consumers were making complaints unbeknownst to one another. Now we’re seeing them retrospectively (and accumulating) as a larger collection. But why would people complain about PF anyway if there’s another explanation for a pet death? Young pets shouldn’t be dying simply of liver and kidney failure and developing turmors. Pefectly healthy dogs, changed to Beneful, shouldn’t become immediately sick. In earlier decades dogs died of “old age.” That’s the difference.

• The only reason commercial PF goes under rigorous scrutiny to qualify as a product for sale is to prevent any Toad from throwing together human food waste, cooking it up, making it look pretty and packaging it. If it wasn’t regulated producers would be cutting corners left and right to put anything out in the market. And just because it’s “regulated” doesn’t mean the regulations are optimum. Example, Compliance Policies which completely undercut the potential integrity of a normal product.

• I can’t speak to cats, but dogs do perfectly well on an imperfectly crafted homemade diet. Mine have for 7 yrs. My 4 yr. old and 15 yr. old dogs’ blood panels are normal, no maladies, no trips to the vet, excellent teeth, no medications, no external symptoms and I could go on. I feed raw, home cooked fresh natural food and no supplements. Their calcium/phosphorus balance is covered. Before commercial PF dogs actually scavenged in the wild, some fasted for 24 hrs. and farm, ranch and working dogs often got leftover human food scraps. The admonition is to NOT feed pre-packaged, CONVENIENCE, junk style, human food (with excess sugar, salt, fat). And NO your dog can not live on Pizza.

• In terms of proof, just how do you go about this exactly. This is MY stance. Do you feed a dozen dogs the worst food on earth and watch grim symptoms to appear, but feed the other dozen human food and then write about those significant differences in a fancy White Paper. Or could you observe your dog and a hundred others and look at the results. When my dogs are fed something and get sick, but return to normal when I change food, why wouldn’t that be enough information. Multiplied by hundreds of others doing the same thing. What kind of “science” is needed at this point, and if people are so darn desperate for ultimate proof (before they learn to disbelieve) THEN why don’t they clamor for the actual field trials. Do you not think Purina tests its own food? Because if the results are so darn compelling then why wouldn’t they be freely available for every discriminating consumer.

Think about it.

• Finally there are plenty of people who don’t know, what they don’t know. Count up how many complaints begin with, “I never dreamed a PF could lead to my dogs’ sickness. But I reading other consumer experiences matching mine.” The fact may be that dogs are eating food without symptoms is also like people engaging in risky behavior and beating the odds. Folks smoke, drink & drive and do whatever, out live other people. But we don’t recommend those risky behaviors. The simple truth IS, when we know better we focus on improvements. The fact that they take forever doesn’t diminish their value. Susan has spent a LOT of time researching/writing “Buyer Beware.” None of that information was pulled from the air. There is good reason to suspect PF, but people have to take the responsibility of becoming informed.

• It starts with the TAPF and this discussion. Read the book and see what you think.

Please stop posting this snopes link. The complaints and deaths related to Purina Products are true.
The snopes link is from several years ago and since then…thousands of dogs have become ill and died.
There are several groups of people that have banded to together, sharing TRUE information and have filmed their pets severe reaction right after eating these foods. Heartbreaking videos of a husband and wife…The wife holding her dogs head..her dog unable to move and her telling her dog, “everything will be okay” while the husband helps the other dog who can barely stand. I am tired of the snopes link which btw says “unproven” it does not say “false”
If you do a search on facebook by putting Purina or Beneful in the search box you will see many groups and pages dedicated to iinforming consumers. IF you post ANY negative comments or complaints on any of the many Purina offical product pages…Purina will block you from being able to post to their pages. We are not allowed to question their products. Their Waggin Train jerky treats, that are made in China have killed thousands and continue to kill pets everyday. A lot of their products are made with ingredients sourced from China. Here are a couple links with helpful informationhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/337053186400666/

I doubt it will happen, but I hope he wins. We had a beautiful little member of our family die in
2008 – yes, Beneful dog food. Like the other comments here, our little dog was healthy with fine checkups until we began feeding her Beneful. We have purchased NOTHING from Purina since then. My condolences to all
the pet owners who have lost one or more beloved family members needlessly. Just because animal owners
cannot afford to buy very expensive premium brands does NOT mean they should have to deal with their pets being poisoned. Of course, Purina isn’t the only one – but Beneful seems to be one of the worst. WIN, Frank, for all of us.

I fed my dogs Beneful their whole life. My 8 yr old Lhasa Apso developed tumors, and eventually lost his life. It was unexplainable to the vet as we had each tumor removed as it appeared, and they tested non cancerous…..now, hearing about this and reading others posts, I’m wondering if it was the food….

A few years ago I lost my 1 1/2 year old boxer. All the vet could tell me was it looked like she got into a toxin, and her symptoms (seizing, 110 degree fever, brain swelling) were similar. They said there was no specific “tox screen” to say exactly what it was. This garbage is what she ate. I can never go back and make up for my naiveness around dog food, but I will forever blame this garbage food. She also displayed hair loss and itching, as well as excessive thirst. This is not the first time this has been in the media. I hope something is done about this, I wish I was closer because I would fight with this family

We have yet another tragedy, and I am heart-broken for the Lucido family and their dogs. The only good I see that could come out of the lawsuit is the public becoming more aware of the dangers of additives in commercial pet feed. I would like to know what happened to the Lucido’s German Shepherd and Labrador dogs, hoping that they survived and are strong enough to recover fully.

In December 2012 a friend’s dog died and I believed it to be related to the Beneful they fed her. I emailed Nestle Purina and their response follows. So sad that we cannot trust the government to oversee. It isn’t just the dog that suffers. My friend is elderly and because of that decided not to get another dog, but has missed the companionship and felt depressed ever since.

Their reply:

“Thank you for contacting Nestlé Purina PetCare Company.

We are deeply sorry to learn of your friend’s loss. Please know the online postings you reference contain false and misleading allegations and cause undue concern and confusion among consumers. There are no known product issues with Beneful dog food.

The safety and quality of our products are our top priorities and consumers can continue to feed our products with total confidence. All of our Beneful foods are 100% complete and balanced for their intended life stage. They are formulated by professional pet nutritionists and veterinarians and are produced under strict quality standards.

In addition, we use only high quality ingredients that meet our specifications, including added vitamins and minerals, in amounts that are safe and effective for pets. Our production facilities follow strict standards to ensure that high quality is maintained in our products. All of our ingredients are approved for use in pet foods by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO), the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) and the Pet Food Industry Group (PFI).

Please have your friend contact our Office of Consumer Affairs directly at 1-800-778-7462 weekdays between 7AM to 7PM CST. One of our Pet Advisors will be available to personally address her concerns.
Again, thank you for visiting our website.”

Last year I lost my pit bull after he became violently ill. He was on a steady diet of Beneful. He was diagnosed with a protein losing eenteropothy. We fought for two months to keep him alive but he eventually became so very weak and sick we had to put him to sleep. He was only 6. The vet said that something triggered his condition. Now I really am wondering if it was the food.

My Toby was diagnosed with kidney failure due to Beneful dogfood & passed away in January, 2013, he was 10. Beneful immediately covered it up when the news got ahold of this information. This totally sickens me to that they are killing many precious dogs. I have told so many people purchasing this product. I’ve even told people at the stores when I see them with this food in their carts. Please quit killing our dogs you blooming idiots!!

Can you post more about this? How did the News get involved, what was there about the case that got their attention? And how did Purina cover things up? Maybe your experience could be useful in this Class Action suit.

After my dogs passing, I saw on the news that Beneful was being recalled due to this causing kidney failure in dogs. The dog food was recalled & you never heard another thing about it. The company pulls the food for a short time & then it was back on the shelves. My dog was healthy at Christmas opening presents & playing, then one month later he’s in kidney failure.

Thank you for responding! I Google’d [ 2013 Beneful in the News ] and sure enough found what you’re referencing. Please see “Caroline Snyder in West Virginia’s” comment which is now the 3rd one from the top of this Forum. She is extremely specific and her posting (especially about PG) is invaluable!

“….the FDA has been warning about contaminated PG from China since 2011” “ … a drum of INDUSTRIAL GRADE PG was found by the FDA in one of the Chinese jerky treat plants but the FDA were, unsurprisingly, not allowed to remove it or test it.”

The only leverage any Consumer has is through their pocket book. I think EVERYONE reading about this atrocity should BOYCOTT all Purina products PERIOD, and email them as to the reason why!!!

PLEASE pick up the phone and do it now! The BENEFUL lawsuit attorneys told us that ANYONE in the US who has had ANY issue with Nestle-Purina’s Beneful causing illness or death in their pets is highly encouraged to phone the team handling the Class Action Lawsuit at: 877-667-4265 or 407-452-6990 They will conduct a phone interview no matter where you are. So CALL – participation will not cost you a dime! They are asking that people save any food they still have for testing, with packaging if possible, and any vet information/records.

My current foster dog was surrendered to us with a bag of Beneful. The dog was 10lbs under weight & had hair loss down his back – which has never fully grown back. We were instructed by the rescue to throw out the Beneful because it is “THE WORST” dog food on the market. The next day he was started on a high quality brand dog food. There was a noticeable change in his behavior within days of changing his food. A year later, he is now a happy, healthy boy!

My question would be: What brand or kind of dog food do people recommend? I have a dog and 8 cats but don’t have the time to specially cook food for them. Would it be Iams, Eukanuba or something different? I appreciate any help anyone can give.

If you change brands to grain free your pet will probably eat less due to not having corn in the product. The eat to live not eat to live. Also some dogs get gas from eating chicken. LOL
Be aware most store bought treats are not always safe too.

Also, if you switch due it gradually to avoid stomach upset.
Do a progressive ratio mix from old to new each day.
90 old to 10 percent new
80/20 70/30 60/40 50/50 then 50/50 40/60 30/70 20/80 10/90 till 100% new food.

When I feed kibble to my dogs & cats, it’s Orijen or Acana or Wysongs Epigen 90 – all high protein & good kibble. expensive but worth it! Can buy it at Chewy’s.com or others, even Amazon if you do not have a specialty store.

“We already called the attorneys and they told us that ANYONE in thye US who has had ANY issue with Nestle-Purina’s Beneful causing illness or death is highly encouraged to phone the team handling the Class Action Lawsuit at: 877-667-4265. They will conduct a phone interview no matter where you are. So CALL – participation will not cost you a dime!

Please join us for further information! As you can imagine, we are getting VERY busy with the new arrivals!”

For her complete comment please see her posting which is #3 from the top. She has presented valuable information!

Our dog Max was a husky/shepard mix. We had on benufel for a while when all of a sudden he got very sick. We brought to the vet and found out thru blood work his liver was failing. We had to put him down, Would love to join the lawsuit

We had a black lab that was 7 years old. We fed him Beneful and found him a month later, unable to breathe or walk. He died an hour after we took him to the vet. They had him hooked up on IV saline and said he had internal bleeding. We are still grieving. It makes me so sad. I will join if something comes of this.

My dogs were on beneful for a while. My smaller dog must have a stronger stomach because my big dog lost hair and had a bad stomach issue for days. He went a very watery diarrhea with some blood in it over several days. I figured out why (the food) and switched them both to a better brand. Screw beneful. I hope they go out of business.

My mini-dachshund is nearly 10 years old and almost from the start we have been giving her Beneful Dog Food. Our vet always comments how her weight (8-9 lbs) is great and no health problems. She is very active for her age. We have no problem with this product.

Had a neighbor once. Spent his youth working coal mines. Joined the Military. Survived WWII. A chain smoker (3 packs a day unfiltered) his entire life. As an alcoholic he started every day with couple shots and beer chasers. Then drove 40 miles to work for 25 years. Never exercised. Every night cocktails before dinner then passed out around 8:00pm. Fell down 2 flights of stairs, and survived Pneumonia. Later on he simply died of old age at 83.

My Dog Sam passed in 2010 of cancer. I fed him Beneful dog food as well. Now I am wondering if the dog food had something to do with it. If it is found that there is something wrong with this dog food, then it needs to be taken off the market ASAP. Someone need to do research and an investigation to find out what was in the food to cause the illnesses. I am so sorry for the dogs that have been ill or lost.

I would like more information on this class action lawsuit. My 10 year old Jack Russell terrier has been eating Beneful for many years. Over the last 3 months he has been hospitalized twice due to vomiting, diarhea and severe dehydration due to to the prior. The vet could not explain what was making him sick. We took him off Beneful and he began a Hills vet recommended food and he has not had any issues … knock on wood. This makes me furious. We could have lost out pet, not to mention the amount of money we have spent having him hospitalized for days at a time.

Please see “Caroline Snyder in West Virginia’s” comment which is now the 3rd one from the top. According to her post it says:

“We already called the attorneys and they told us that ANYONE in the US who has had ANY issue with Nestle-Purina’s Beneful causing illness or death is highly encouraged to phone the team handling the Class Action Lawsuit at: 877-667-4265. They will conduct a phone interview no matter where you are. So CALL – participation will not cost you a dime!

Please join us for further information! As you can imagine, we are getting VERY busy with the new arrivals!”

We lost our dog of 12 years, Sugarfoot, was her name, to this dog food 6 years ago. It was a sad Christmas. I don’t buy Beneful at all. My dog will either go hungry or I will cook him a chicken. I wish something would come of this.

I too lost a dog 4 years ago to a sudden onset of liver malfunction. She was 12 years old and had always been a healthy dog. We fed her Beneful everyday. She began peeing red urine and her gums and mouth were pale. She was disoriented and after four days of watching her suffer, we put her down. My heart is broken knowing now that we were feeding her poison. I have no words tonight…I am broken hearted all over again. It took me months to stop crying when we put her down. If you need another story to win your case, you can contact me. I will be glad to provide you with the vet’s report and our story. I am so sorry for your loss.

My dog is sick right now, just two days ago I purchased Beneful , Purina dog food from Walmart, he won’t eat, drink, play, he is vomiting, gagging, e,g. He had an episode lateral of2014, I took him to the Vet, his intestines were inflamed. I’m taking that dog food back today. I was giving him Bil Jack , andBlue Mountain, he was okay, just decided to switch up, plus it was cheaper, now my Cocker Spaniel is very ill. He is lying on the bed right now sic as a dog!. Overland Park, KS. Ccelaine25@ AOL.com.

If you do a search on facebook by putting Purina or Beneful in the search box you will see many groups and pages dedicated to informing consumers. IF you post ANY negative comments or complaints on any of the many Purina offical product pages…Purina will block you from being able to post to their pages. We are not allowed to question their products. Their Waggin Train jerky treats, that are made in China have killed thousands and continue to kill pets everyday. A lot of their products are made with ingredients sourced from China. Here are a couple links with helpful informationhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/337053186400666/

Linda, the Beneful Lawsuit made Editors Pick on Google Headline News. This is huge. Because of the publicity factor. I’ve never seen a negative story posted on a major corporate PF manufacturer on Google Headlines EVER!

PEOPLE, by the time your dogs are manifesting these kinds of symptoms after eating Beneful/Purina (won’t eat, drink, play, vomiting, gagging, laying on the bed, bloody stools….) the damage is being done! You can’t get your dog to the Vet fast enough.

Is a $40 bag of food a greater value than a $50 office Vet appointment! Document the visit, the analysis, the test results and share them per the 3rd posting from the top of this forum (Caroline Snyder in West Virginia). The attorneys are doing all the work, all you have to do is repeat your experience and JOIN THE LAWSUIT!

Not sure if this is what happened to my Corgi. My 7 tear old corgi was eating Beneful Dog food for quite some time. At the end of December I came home from work to see that she had been vomitting. She was vomitting constantly even just giving her water caused her to vomit. I brought her to my vet and she was diagnosed with
what I was told was pancreatitis. We had to keep her NPO for three days with a vet viisit everyday for a bolis of fluids, anti-nausea meds, antibiotics and pain med injections. this went on for over a month. When we put Mia back on food it was 95% lean ground beef and rice. Once she tolerated that we were advised to slowly introduce her to her regular dog food once we did this the vomiting started again. We took her off the food and started the whole process again keeping her on white meat chicken and rice or 95% lean hamburger ONLY. After the third episode Mia could barely walk, it was the weekend so on Sunday I was tired of seeing this poor little dog suffer so we were going to bring her on Monday Morning to have her put down. She woke up Monday Morning looking for food after refusing food for four days (each episode she stopped eating) Mia ate and finally seems to have recovered. Our vet bills totalled $3000.00. She can no longer take the chance of being on dog food has to stay on hamburger or chicken with rice. Thinking I should look into this class action lawsuit.

OMG! I am so mad right now, last month my 5 year old Reilly was so sick vomiting and diareah for over a week
after 2 different vet visits and hundreds of dollars I now know what the heck caused it! He only eats Beneful!!!
Blood was pouring out his butt, I took pictures and sent them to the vet! xrays fluid injections for dehydration,pills for diareah and an injection for vomiting! What is the next step ? This dog really suffered!

If you suspect it was Beneful (meaning the dog didn’t get into any other harmful substance and was previously healthy) Caroline Snyder of West Virginia has posted the following information. Her comment is the 3rd one from the top of all comments. This Class Action Lawsuit has now been picked up by significant media outlets (NBC, CBS and CNN). Not highly publicized is that Purina (without admitting guilt) already created a $6.5 Million fund to compensate owners who’s dogs got sick from Jerky Treats. There is no way they would have done this without knowing that something isn’t right. Their goal at this point is to escape further bad publicity. They can not afford another scandal. So if they can’t prove their product is safe, then they’re going to be settling out of court, to get this OUT of the News. The problem is, the product needs to be REMOVED from the marketplace first or drastically reformulated.

I hope EVERYONE with a complaint will add their voices to this lawsuit. Like with CJTs this campaign has to be relentless.

From Caroline’s post: “We already called the attorneys and they told us that ANYONE in thye US who has had ANY issue with Nestle-Purina’s Beneful causing illness or death is highly encouraged to phone the team handling the Class Action Lawsuit at: 877-667-4265. They will conduct a phone interview no matter where you are. So CALL – participation will not cost you a dime!”

“Please join us for further information! As you can imagine, we are getting VERY busy with the new arrivals!”

Where do I sign up for this lawsuit? I fed my 2 Yorkies this poison for years…I had no idea their food was making them vomit, giving them diarrhea, and ear infections. One of my girls developed congestive heart failure and almost died. She struggled with every breath she took, and almost choked to death on several occasions. She will be on medication for the rest of her life. Thank God for holistic dog foods.

This Class Action suit (as a precedent) is going to be Consumers one and only chance to broadside a major PF manufacturer for a long time!!! And everyone concerned better get it right! So it can set the example it needs to be.

Publicity like this seldom reaches the media. But it has. Though brief and subtle as it’s been. But that’s only because Purina already has 2 other significant strikes against them. Do people know Purina set aside $6.5 million to “compensate” consumers for CJTs in exchange for not admitting guilt? Would ANY company shell out $6.5 million unless they recognized their accountability/responsibility for a problem, yet wanted bad publicity to just go away? The fastest way is to “buy” people off to shut them up.

As with another very visible trial in the media that just ended, general commentary said that “outside influence” (meaning people’s opinion) is thought to have influenced a VERY guilty verdict. This lawsuit isn’t just between the parties involved. It should represent EVERY consumer’s disgust with (and suspicion of) Purina! No PF to any degree (whether serious or mild side-effects) should EVER make a previously healthy pet sick! Yet consumers put up with these inconveniences believing well it’s just “their” pet, or because of a quick transition, or “kennel flu.” It is NOT.

If consumers want reform, be it one step at a time, then that can only happen by keeping up relentless pressure! And that takes momentum. Just like the opponents of CJTs are pursuing.

If Consumers really cared (beyond those who’ve lost pets) then they would organize a campaign very visibly to dispense flyers in front stores that sell this product, and ask Vets to accept flyers as well. The idea should be to prevent more pets from getting sick, instead of reacting afterwards! A lawsuit is not going to cause change, UNLESS …. Consumers change …..their behavior!

With as much bad publicity as Purina is receiving right now, if they can’t prove the safety of their product (as they couldn’t with CJTs) they will HAVE to settle out of court. They will never risk a “guilty” verdict because it would follow them forever. And that means losing credibility, customer loyalty and brand name trust. But by putting a huge “fund” in place to compensate out of pocket expenses that ISN’T going to fix a PFI wide problem! Beneful just happens to be the worst of many examples.

This is the problem. It’ll be business as usual unless Purina is FORCED through public outcry to remove Beneful from the market or to drastically and safely reformulate the recipe.

If you’re still in doubt do an experiment. In a mixing bow add (usually the following is in powdered form) 1/5 ground yellow corn (feed grade from questionable long term storage) add 1/5 corn gluten meal, 1/5 wheat flour + rice flour + soy flour, and 1/5 ground up chicken by-product meal (miscellaneous other than meat itself) and 1/5 meat & bone meal (from whatever sources because it’s unidentifiable and permitted by Compliance Policies). Ask what kind of moisture binds all of it together. Heat (obviously not enough to eliminate mycotoxins), add chemicals, preservatives, flavors & MULTIPLE colors, shape and dry until crunchy.

This diet is mainly CARBOYDRATE, from an ingredient not natural to dogs, the protein is questionable, minimal, and the additives are artificial and synthetic. Most likely imported from China, because the origin of 3rd party suppliers doesn’t have to be listed on a label. Maybe you could do this at home. Except it wouldn’t be very appealing. Now feed that diet DAILY for years and years ……

My dog gets sick alote and only since I’ve been giving them that dog food ,I hope my dog don’t die they are my life and if that is the case it’s from purina they have Ben eating the companies should pay everybody with the dog food they Ben feeding there dogs getting sick and dying. Sign Alain hachey

In my opinion I would STOP feeding Beneful (anything Purina) now. At their price point, for the same cost of the food minus the risks, there are 10 others from which to choose.

If you’ve had a previously healthy dog NO FOOD should be making a pet sick. Do not find excuses thinking it’s only your dog reacting. Don’t believe that just because it’s a diet made for pets that the product is in their best interest. In fact all these companies want to do is make money and return profit to shareholders. Look for something family or privately owned.

Try to find a grain free food. I don’t endorse any products, but you could start with Wellness or Fromms.

Recommended reading; “Food Pets Die For: Shocking Facts About Pet Food” by Ann N. Martin, International Authority on pet food. Forward of the book was written by Shawn Messonier, Veterinarian. VERY enlightening information. Please pass it on. You can find it on Amazon.

About 2 years ago we started using baneful dog food not knowing it would harm our beloved dogs. Over the last two years our big dog started having issues. she would vomit have runny stools and just was not our normal dog. this went on for a long time. I took her to the vet who put her on some meds and sent her home. The vomiting stopped but the runny stools did not. About a month ago she started vomiting again and this time it was horrible. It was like she could not keep anything down. I took her back to the vet and he again put her on meds and sent her home. But this time the meds did not work. She continued to vomit, she was losing weight, it was getting hard for her to breath, and she refused to eat. We ended up putting her down because we could not see her suffer like that any more. It breaks my heart that if I would have known this I could have possibly saved her life and I would still have my wonderful dog.

I am desperately trying to find more information about what is going on with the suit. My wife and I read about it in March after noticing problems that 1 of our 2 dogs was experiencing at the time. After removing the Beneful from both of their diets, the problems our dog was experiencing went away within a week. Yesterday, October 8th, 2015, the 2nd of our 2 dogs(the one NOT experiencing problems initially), died in my arms. She exhibited every symptom reported by others the day prior, she died before we could get her into the vet. This was my wife’s service dog, a valued family member, and quite honestly, my best friend. I’m broken on the inside. Any information whatsoever would be appreciated. My son and I have cried for 2 days straight, it was all so unexpected. He would like to know more as well. Thank you in advance, Sean(Broken Heart)

Jaime died in February 2015 from liver dysfunction she had been on Beneful for about 9 months. She had been on another dog food for years, but when we could not get it any longer it was recommended to us to use Beneful. We feel sad that we did not do a better research on the Purina, but like many Purina was always thought to be a good dog food. Jaime was a very healthy dog up until she got sick, the vet always bragged about her being one of the best condition dogs he had seen. A day does not go by that we think or talk about her she was part of our family. I hold Purina liable for claiming Beneful was a safe and good source of food for our Jaime.

It’s 2017 and guesses what, this food is still in the market and many dog’s owners are purchasing it.
I wonder how these people get off on thinking this crappy food of various crap is good for carnivores? It’s a bunch of stuff that is not raw meat or meat. What a bunch of money grubbing people.

I had never heard of this before….now, two weeks after my baby suddenly got sick, and had to be euthanized, I am sick to y stomach thinking that it may have been what I was feeding her. She had internal bleeding and loss of blood to her back legs that made her fall down. Her gums were white. I had come home at 6 pm, to a bouncy happy girl, by 7 she was by her bowl of Beneful and suddenly threw up and fell down. She was 12. Her 3 yr old sister has not touched the food bowl, even after I cleaned all bowls. For TWO WEEKS, my 3 yr old won’t eat the dogfood. Lots of biscuits, but no food. I just dumped it all in the garbage and sent my husband to get her something else!